Packagers have used shrink-film polymers for many years to wrap products. Common films use polyolefin polymer, such as, polypropylene or polyethylene, or polyvinyl chloride (PVC) polymer. Other shrink-film polymers include polystyrene and glycol-modified polyester. Recently, packagers have begun to consider biodegradable polymers, such as film based on polylactic acid. The shrink-film helps protect products from damage and contamination during handling and shipment, prevent loss of bundled components from theft, or to indicate product tampering. A distinguishing characteristic of shrink-film is its ability upon exposure to a level of heat energy to shrink or create shrink-tension within the film if it is restrained. Examples of wrapped items include: cans, jars, bottles, compact disk recordings, toys, food products, gift baskets, household items, hardware components, and the like.
Containers, such as bottles and jars, generally have a closure that seals contents within the container. Applying an adhesive, such as a pressure sensitive rubberized adhesive, to one side of the shrink-film creates a heat shrinkable film tape that packagers wrap around the closure and then shrink to make a secondary closure. Similarly, packagers make the secondary closure by creating a pre-made heat shrinkable sleeve, some open only at one end, which slides over the closure and then is heat-shrunk. This secondary closure can provide indication of product tampering and helps keep the closure and adjacent areas of the bottle or jar substantially free of contamination.
Packagers pre-decorate shrink-films as means for labeling the bottle or jar. A shrink-film label is generally made of a special shrink-film polymer material that shrinks mostly in a transverse direction than in an axial direction of the bottle or jar.
For decades, medical professionals have treated injured bones, joints, and surrounding soft tissue using the orthopedic cast made in part of plaster based structural materials and more recent fiberglass based structural materials that harden to thereby substantially immobilize and support the injured area. Typically, medical professionals apply casts to limbs and torsos. Depending on the injury, injury treatment and use of the cast can take a period of a few weeks to several months. On average, these professionals will treat over 9.8 million U.S. residents each year; many are children or animals important to children.
In practice, medical professionals apply a padding covering the injured area before applying the structural material. The padding is usually white in color and traditionally the structural material is white in color, but occasionally has a pigment in one of a few other select colors.
Because these casts are temporary, often replaced during the period of treatment, patients and their friends, relatives, and other individuals often decorate the cast with any number of drawings, sketches, slogans, hieroglyphics, phrases, comments, poetry, symbols, and the like. Children are particularly interested in decorating their casts and parents usually encourage this interest in that it creates an activity that is fun for them and may partly distract them from otherwise often traumatic issues associated with treatment. Psychologically, the decorations can become a badge of honor.
Until this invention, individuals apply decorations directly to the cast's structural material using felt-pens, ballpoint pens, brushes, or other similar marking means that use ink, paint, or pencil lead. Once applied, the decoration remains until cast removal. Sometimes decorations applied later become inappropriate. Sometimes the cast becomes soiled. Other times cast decorations may become a memento.
Accordingly, an intention of the invention is to decorate orthopedic casts in a novel manner that creates applied decorations that can partially distort in interesting ways during application of heat energy and subsequent contraction of shrink-film.
Another intention of the invention is to enable individuals to readily alter, remove, or hide at will cast color and/or previously applied decorations.
Another intention of the invention is to help enable individuals to maintain a fresher and cleaner cast appearance.
Another intention of the invention is to provide means that may enable parents and medical professionals to help children ease, often traumatic, issues associated with treatment.
Another intention of the invention is to enable individuals to transfer decoration applied to a previous cast if medical professionals determine treatment requires a replacement cast.
Another intention of the invention is to provide a portfolio of selected components that will enable individuals to apply initial cast decorations and to readily exchange previously applied decorations.
From description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings that follow, additional benefits and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in art to which this invention relates.